LIFE IS A MUSICAL

It's not quite like The Music Man, nor is it exactly Phantom of the Opera, although it does bear startling similarities to the Buffy episode entitled Once More With Feeling.

I'm talking about how music, in much more than the philosophical sense, really does seem to move the world to its beat-- whatever that beat happens to be at the moment.

Yesterday I felt pretty down. I needed something to perk me up-- and so I put on my headphones and ran my .mp3 list.

The effect was, as always, invigorating, soothing, energizing, relaxing-- in short, distracting. Music just takes me away. And I'm pretty sure it has the same effect on other people, which is why we have the term "music is the universal language."

Look at people's livejournals. They have a hard-coded option for what they're listening to at the moment, right under their "mood" indicator. Because the music does define the mood, or at least parallels it.

We use music to create a mood, or to unravel a mood we're in. It moves us. It gives us pause. It inspires, or simply removes us from the mundane. When I'm angry, I want angry music to empathize with. Or to clean the kitchen with. Late at night I want something dark and mysterious. Bubble-gum pop is great on sunny days. Et Cetera.

And I notice that when I have my music playing when I'm outside, the world seems to move in syncopation to *my* beat. Traffic lights blink on and off to the rhythm of my discman's output. People walk to the beat. Random events suddenly take on a pattern.

There's a correlation to music and the rhythm of the world, even if we don't feel it consciously. We are drawn to it, to paraphrase Sarah McLachlan. I love to see little kids crossing the street suddenly FLING their arms up in glee at the exact same moment the music in my car reaches a crescendo.

I love to see someone's turn signal click-flash click-flash to the staccato drumbeat of the song I hear.

When I see these things, I feel at peace. I feel like there IS a rhythm that we are all part of, whether or not we're aware. And my sudden awareness of it-- on however small a scale-- reassures me that I am a part of something larger. And that everyone I'm watching is, too.

And suddenly, I feel better. I may still not be "happy" if I was in a bad mood to start with, but I definitely feel better. Even if it's a bad day, I realize other people out there are having them too, and that makes me smile if only in solidarity for my brother SOB's out there who are pissed off, annoyed and/or suffering.

And if it's a good day? YOWza. To quote Great Big Sea, "When I'm up, I can't get down." Everyone seems to share my joy. Even the sun peeks through the clouds right on-cue for its big solo. Huzzah!

Next time you listen to music, watch your surroundings. See how they seem to conform to the pattern. See how everything, suddenly, just seems to WORK. Even your computer crashes may fit right in with some unseen Musical Score.

To me, that's just the magic of everyday life. Music fits with the rhythm of living. Well, of COURSE it does.

Mood: Existential
Listening to: Joey (Concrete Blonde)

Posted by Agent M at September 05, 2003 11:05 AM